HE'S TIRED
Fellow photographer Brett Duke and I used his canoe to shoot pictures downtown. We had to agree with each other that we couldn't rescue people ourselves, but we'd make notes of stranded people and direct rescuers to them. As we paddled, several young girls a block away screamed to us to come help. We hesitated, knowing that we couldn't put them in our boat. But they wouldn't relent. Their screams grew louder and more intense. We decided to investigate and as we paddled closer, it became clear that they weren't calling for themselves. They pointed us to an elderly man clinging to a fence a block away. "Please save him," they yelled. "He's tired and he's been there a long time." As we paddled over to him, a rescue boat turned the corner and Brett directed them over. After he was safely in the boat, we paddled back toward the cheering girls. "You saved a life!" they shouted and cheered. "No, you saved a life!" we yelled back. They were beaming with pride.